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Where should we be looking in the midst of a crisis ? 

The word crisis seems to be the in word at the moment.

With the rise in terrorist activity in so many places across the world we hear Government leaders speak about a political crisis. We can see the efforts being made by different world leaders as they seek to find an answer to the economic crisis which has left so many businesses in chaos and multitudes of people out of work. We have a crisis today as swine flu sweeps across so many parts of the world and the media issues one warning after another concerning what we should do should we find ourselves in a crisis.

Add to that the crisis that we often face individually in our own lives and all the pressures and problems that family life brings and we could easily fall into the pit of despair. We could easily feel that life is not worth the hassle and that there is not much point in going on if we have to face one crisis after another.

Well times like these demand that we focus on one who can help us through such times of crisis. As the psalmist encourages us in Psalm 37, we need to refocus on the things that really matter in life and we need to employ our faith in a Sovereign God, especially when the faith of so many people seems to be faltering under the burden of their circumstances.

We need to remind ourselves of God’s eternal love and remember that when Christ is our Saviour we are loved with an everlasting love and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

We need to remember the sufficiency of God’s Grace and reflect on the words of the hymn writer –

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength, when the labours increase,
To added affliction, He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

We need to remind ourselves of God’s omnipotent power and remember that He reigns on High and hat He has everything in His control.
We need to remind ourselves of God’s abundant provision and how that He meets the needs of His people.
We need to remind ourselves of God’s wise providences and be assured that whatever we are facing just now, that God knows the way that we take.

In Lamentations 3 we see the prophet lamenting. He is in the midst of a crisis for his life is in a mess and he feels that that he is hemmed in. He is greatly afflicted and it seems that God has hedged him in all around and there seems to be no way out. But then when he lifts his eyes heavenward we read these words.

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning : great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul : therefore will I hope in him. 

When His eyes were heavenward and his thoughts were God centered, he was able to rejoice in the faithfulness of God.

Faithfulness is an attribute or a characteristic of God. His faithfulness is vast, it is unfailing and it is unchanging. Well does the hymn writer say -

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see,
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

So if God is ever faithful and remains unchanging, then we can be very confident in a world that is ever changing. He is still on the throne and He is still in control, and if we have forgotten about God, God has certainly not forgotten about us. Even in the midst of what seems to be a crisis for us, God is working out all things for our good and for His Glory. He has a plan and a purpose for this world that He has created. He has a purpose for everything that is going on at this present time, and even though we cannot understand all of that - God will be faithful to His plans and purposes. God is not simply working in time, but He is working with eternity in mind and we can say today, even though we cannot understand it - All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

Pastor John Taylor